Personnel Licensing and Flight Crew Qualifications (Part 61)
The licence ladder
Part 61 sets the requirements for the student pilot, PPL, CPL, ATPL and the associated ratings. For each licence the exam expects the four gates: age, medical, knowledge and experience, then flight test. Typically a PPL needs 17 years and a Class 2 medical; CPL 18 years and a Class 1; ATPL 21 years and a Class 1. English language proficiency is recorded on the licence at the level demonstrated.
Ratings and endorsements
- Class and type ratings - class for simple aeroplanes, type for anything specified.
- Instrument rating - with associated privileges and recency requirements.
- Instructor rating - separately graded and supervised.
- Endorsements - e.g. tailwheel, pressurisation, retractable undercarriage, where the part requires them.
Recency
General passenger-carrying recency is expressed as three take-offs and three landings in the preceding 90 days, with a separate night requirement; instrument recency is separately defined. Verify the exact subpart figures rather than assuming the numbers you learned elsewhere.
Worked example
An applicant holds a CPL with 1,520 hours total time, 130 hours night, 60 hours instrument and 210 hours cross-country. Total hours and night hours look sufficient for ATPL, but if the instrument minimum is not met the application fails at the experience gate regardless of total time. Hours in an approved simulator count only as the part allows, and only if properly logged and certified.
Traps
- Assuming a foreign licence can be used without validation by the DCA.
- Believing a rating never lapses - recency and renewal are separate from the licence itself.
- Confusing medical class validity periods between PPL and CPL/ATPL.
- Counting simulator or co-pilot time that the part does not permit.